It looks to be inevitable that Callum Hudson-Odoi will leave Chelsea.

The Blues resisted temptation to sell the youngster when Bayern Munich came calling during the winter transfer window.

The German giants seem willing to play the long-game as they want the young forward to replace the departing Arjen Robben.

It looks like other sides have since been joined them in the queue for the eighteen year old.

The Metro state that Rio Ferdinand believes that Hudson-Odoi would be an ideal target for Manchester United. While The Telegraph are reporting that Borussia Dortmund are rivalling Bayern for Hudson-Odoi’s signature.

Chelsea might want to keep hold of the talent but after today, I doubt Callum will be in any mood for staying.

Munich and other potential suitors will be offering the youngster first team football. That’s something Blues boss Maurizio Sarri just can’t seem to offer the teenager.

The future of star man Eden Hazard is also up in the air. Against Cardiff City earlier today, Sarri decided to drop his maestro. It would have been an ideal time to give Hudson-Odoi his long awaited first Premier League start and a chance to really shine in a Chelsea jersey.

It would’ve been a big signal to the young attacker that he’s the future of Chelsea and the one that they’ll look to if they do indeed lose Hazard to Real Madrid in the summer.

Yet Maurizio persisted in playing the more experienced Pedro and Willian, neither of which have had a particularly strong or consistent season thus far.

This all in the same week that Callum started his first game for England, that’s one more start than Sarri’s given him in the English top flight. In the last international break, Hudson-Odoi played 110 minutes of football and yet he’s only played 119 minutes in the Premier League this entire season.

I can totally understand why the international winger would feel he was better off leaving Stamford Bridge.

Even when Chelsea were struggling in Cardiff, Hudson-Odoi was left kicking his heels on the bench.

For whatever reason the eighteen year old isn’t getting a chance to prove himself at The Bridge and he’s clearly got the talent to be playing elsewhere.

Bizarrely Sarri stated that he only watched a little bit of Callum’s international start (Via The Daily Mail):

‘Only 20 minutes because I had 14 players in the internationals so I didn’t have time to watch 20 matches.’

Now surely it would make more sense to concentrate on the player that you’ve seen least of during this term? The Italian should’ve specifically kept an eye on Hudson-Odoi, to see how he coped in such a big occasion.

To be constantly overlooked, to not get a Premier League start all year and then to hear that your manager didn’t watch your full international debut is going to hurt a young player.

Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri haven’t best served their future or even their present by overlooking such a talented player as Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The player’s contract is up in the summer of 2020 and I doubt he’d even entertain contract talks at this point. He’ll be even more determined to seek out a future elsewhere because nothing this season suggests he’s got a pathway to follow that will see him one day becoming a Chelsea regular.

Be in no doubt that the young forward will see that Kevin de Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku all flourished away from Stamford Bridge after being starved of first-team starts and that he won’t be any different!

Posted on March 31st, 2019 by scott
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